XPRMNT Z
by NoahNicholas
Summary: A new company brings out a phone, and out of the blue, people begin to fall ill by using the phone. But a news report says these people are behaving strangely...


Jim's breath was warm against the cool air, his fingertips tingling and tinged a bright pink. The park was emptier than what he had gotten used to over the past few years, since the experimental product in that lab in America.

It all started July 2010. The huge up and coming company in America had released their brand new line of mobile phones. All over the world people were buying them. Australia, China, the UK, to name a few. They had even been made available to people in worse off countries. Everything was fine, business was booming, as had been expected. The phones were selling for 150GBP on initial release, and had flown off the shelves within mere weeks. Jim had gotten his hands on one rather easily, with the help of his right hand man Sebastian, of course. He went home, and found that Sherlock had one, and of course, had it under the microscope, observing it, as he did with every new product that he managed to obtain.

"Sherlock, you know that you can't put everything that you buy under that microscope of yours, don't you?" Jim mumbled, placing the phone down on the table, taking his coat off and going over to the other man, kissing his cheek. "It's rather unusual that you would do that, since it's a mobile phone, and you've had many of them in your time, I'm sure. Would you like a coffee?"

"Well, yes, but this phone is rather unusual itself, no matter my behaviour towards it. Why would anyone want to buy a phone like this? Human nature is a strange thing… People are so fascinated with material and technological things." Sherlock sighs and lifts his head, glancing over at Jim. "I'd love a coffee, though I may or may not have broken the kettle in the process of trying to make it more efficient. As you can probably tell, it didn't succeed, but, it was worth a go and you shall not be buying anything from this brand. Unless, of course, you're going to allow me to experiment with it."

"Sher- You know what, I'm not even going to bother this time. I'll just get another one online." He walks into the living room, sitting, kicking his shoes off and grabbing the remote, turning the TV on. "You were watching the news earlier? I didn't think you were interested in such things. Last time you said that anyone who listens to what comes out of the mouths of the reporters is an 'imbecile' and obviously has a very 'child-like imagination.'" He glances over at the now staring detective, reaching for Jim's phone.

"Mm, well yes, I did say that. Jim, how long has it been since these phones came out, more rather, into production?"

"They were released in July, Sherlock. It's now September, so two months since they came out. Why would you ask?"

"That means they were in production in December last year. Look back at the screen, Jim. You'll see why."

Jim turns back to the screen, a 'Breaking News' bar underneath the reporter. He listens, ignoring the fact that Sherlock was now prying his phone open and destroying the circuit boards, placing them under the microscope, small hums coming from him with his findings. 

" **This just in: Reports of many people all over the world falling unconscious due to the radiation produced by the brand of mobile phones, XPRMNT Z. Doctors are unsure why this is happening, but the victims appear to fall unconscious, unresponsive to the many prompts to wake them up. There have been few cases in the United Kingdom as of yet, but health officials are warning users not to hold the phones to their ears or anywhere near their heads for too long."**

"So… What? People should already know that phones give off radiation, this is their own faults." Jim remarks, rolling his eyes, changing the channel. The report appears on several other channels as he lets out a heavy sigh, eventually shutting it off. "Sherlock, I don't understand."

"That's a real shame, Jim. I thought of all people, you would be the one to understand what these people are saying." He adjusts the lens zoom on the microscope. "I'm not sure if it's just your phone, or if it's everyone else's phone, as well, but this circuit board appears to have tiny cultures of bacteria living on it." Turning, he holds the circuit board in the tweezers, placing it into the small pot of acid, watching it decay and be destroyed.

A few days later, the reports begin to get more intense, word that doctors are urging people to stay away from the phones, destroy them if possible, but no reason is given why. The reports of incidents in the UK increase, that as a technological country, more people were ending up in hospital because of this phone, XPRMNT Z.

Sherlock was working on another destructive experiment when he heard it.

Jim was in his office, working on the payment for his men when he heard it.

"A bacterial substance has been found in the circuit boards of the XPRMNT Z phones, which is believed to be causing the users of the brand to fall unconscious. Scientists have confirmed that the bacterial substance is aggressive, very dangerous, and will cause the hosts to engage is zombie-like behaviour."

Jim takes out his spare phone, and phones Sherlock. "Sherlock, you were right. It's a bacterial infestation. Apparently, it's sending people into zombie-like behaviours. What's going to happen?"

"I don't know, Jim. But I think your training is going to start to come in handy, for once."


End file.
